We believe the sacraments are visible signs instituted by Christ that truly communicate God’s grace. Through ordinary things – water, bread, wine, oil, spoken words, and human touch – God works in extraordinary ways.
The Church celebrates seven sacraments in three categories:
Sacraments of Christian Initiation
Sacraments of Healing
Sacraments of Service
Each sacrament strengthens our relationship with God and accompanies us through different stages of life.
We believe Baptism welcomes us into God’s family and frees us from sin. Confirmation strengthens us through the Holy Spirit. Marriage and Holy Orders are sacraments of vocation and service. Reconciliation restores us after sin. Anointing brings healing and comfort. The Eucharist nourishes us with Christ Himself.
Jesus promised His presence through sacramental signs. He told His disciples:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…” (Matthew 28:19)
And Saint James wrote regarding healing:
“Are there any among you sick? They should call for the presbyters of the church.” (James 5:14)
The Catechism teaches:
“The sacraments are ‘powers that come forth’ from the Body of Christ.” (CCC 1116)
We believe God is not distant. He meets us personally and concretely through the sacramental life of the Church.
Scripture: Matthew 28:19; James 5:14–15; John 20:22–23
Catechism: CCC 1113–1134
Visible and Invisible
We recognize that the Sacraments have a visible and invisible reality, a reality open to all the human senses but grasped in its God-given depths with the eyes of faith. When parents hug their children, for example, the visible reality we see is the hug. The invisible reality the hug conveys is love. We cannot “see” the love the hug expresses, though sometimes we can see its nurturing effect in the child.
The visible reality we see in the Sacraments is their outward expression, the form they take, and the way in which they are administered and received. The invisible reality we cannot “see” is God’s grace, his gracious initiative in redeeming us through the death and Resurrection of his Son. His initiative is called grace because it is the free and loving gift by which he offers people a share in his life, and shows us his favor and will for our salvation. Our response to the grace of God’s initiative is itself a grace or gift from God by which we can imitate Christ in our daily lives.
The saving words and deeds of Jesus Christ are the foundation of what he would communicate in the Sacraments through the ministers of the Church. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the Church recognizes the existence of Seven Sacraments instituted by the Lord. They are the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist), the Sacraments of Healing (Penance and the Anointing of the Sick), and the Sacraments at the Service of Communion (Marriage and Holy Orders). Through the Sacraments, God shares his holiness with us so that we, in turn, can make the world holier. (source: USCCB)